Electric switch.



c. BARR. ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, I911.

Patented Jan. 1,1918.

CARL BARR, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

Application filed March 26, 1917. Seria11\To. 157,333.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL \BARR, a citizen of the United States, residing at'Ghicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Switches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electric switches and has for its primary object the provision of an improved clip for cooperation with the knife of an ordinary knife switch in order to complete or break an electric circuit.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a.clip which shallbe extremely cheap to manufacture and so simple in construction as to require a minimum of labor in mountin the same.

Other ob ects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a View in perspective of my improved switch illustrating the clip thereof in full lines and'the blade and its mounting in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my invention illustrating a modified form, and

Fig. 3 is a-top plan View of the device shown in Fig. 2.

Reference numeral 10 indicates any suitable mounting for the blade 11 of my improved switch, the blade being pivoted as at 1 12 in any suitable manner to the mounting. Fig. 1 illustrates a form of my invention in which the blade is adapted to move in a plane angled with respect to the surface of the base plate or other insulating board (not shown) to which the switch is attached; while Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate a form in which the blade moves parallel to the surface of the insulating board. It will be understood that the blade 11 is of any suitable form such as is commonly used in knife switches: preferably, however, it comprises a plain strip of sheet cooper or sheet'brass.

The clip portion of'my invention comprises a strip of sheet brass or similar electricity conducting material which, adjacent one end is upset in a die to form a finger 14, the edges of the strip 13 remaining intact after thefinger 14 is upset, in order that a sufficient body of material may be left .to

oppose the pressure of the finger 14 against the blade 11. The upsetting of the finger 14 from the strip 13 leaves two substantially parallel edge pieces 15 and 16 of the strip intact and across the end of the strip an edge piece 17 which integrally unites the side edge pieces 15 and 16. The pieces 15, 16 and 17 together form a back to receive the-thrust of the finger 14 when the blade 11 is interposed between the finger and, the back. Preferably the'ends of the finger 14 and the back are bent away from each other, as best illustrated in Fig.1, to guide the descending blade 11 into the space provided between the finger 14 and the back. In the upsetting of the finger 14 the finger is upset at the bottom where it joins the strip substantially as far from the side pieces 15 and 16 as the thickness of the blade 11 to be employed, while the upper free end of the finger 14 is bent inwardly toward the back pieces 15, 16 and 17 so that the upper end of the finger is nearer the upper ends of the side edge pieces 15, 16 than the thickness of the blade 11 to be used. Inasmuch as the strip 13 is made of resilient material the entry of the blade 11 between the finger 14 and the back of the clip will cause an intimate contact between the finger and back and the respective sides of the blade 11. By leaving side edge pieces 15 and 16 I obtain a balancing of the pressure on opposite sides of the blade, whereas the constant use of the switch would tend to'bend the blade, making it more diflicult to insert it in the clip, if the clip had not a side edge piece opposing the finger at each of its edges. At its lower end the strip 13 may be bent to form a mounting 18 apertured as at 19 for passage of a fastening screw, or any other suitable securing device. If desired, however, the strip may be merely apertured, as at 19 in Fig. 2,

' to enable it to lie flat against the insulating board upon which it is mounted instead of causing it to stand at an'angle to the board, as in Fig. 1. I

The operation of my improved switch will be obvious to anyone who has read the foregoing description and seen the drawings, it being plain that the blade 11 is mounted to oscillate in a plane which will cause it to elrliterl between the finger 14 and the back of t e ci While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that one skilled in the art may make modifications thereof without departing from the spirit of the invention. I wish,

therefore, not to be restricted to the precise terior aperture of said marginal portion, embodiment shown except in so far as the spaced from the plane of the strip and ap- 10 same is limited in the appended claim. proaching said plane at its free end, the tip I claim: v of said end receding from the strip and the A clip comprising the unbroken marginal strip being bent away from said portiononly of a strip of resilient metal, In testimony whereof I have a ed my and a resilient metal finger attached by one signature. endvto said strip, positioned opposite the ina CL BR. 

